Also, with Kingsley Amis, he selected and edited five anthologies of Science Fiction which were published by Victor Gollancz (paperback in Pan) between 1961 and 1966 as Spectrum 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5. The series featured a variety of authors including Isaac Asimov, Brian Aldiss, JG Ballard, James Blish, Philip Dick, Robert Heinlein, John Wyndham… (I have the 1971 Pan editions :-))

…I thought to myself, ‘I could say more than that. So I dug out my 45 year old editions.

It was in the field of SF that I first became acquainted with his work.

Robert Conquest, advocate of Science Fiction

He saw that the genre didn’t need to follow the literary rule-book to achieve its effect, in fact it could be an impediment to slavishly ape those tropes. With Kingsley Amis, he selected and edited a series of anthologies which took in fiction from across the genre and were published under the series title of Spectrum. These were drawn from published stories over the previous two decades and were from a variety of sources. The collections read well and did a good job of illustrating the diversity of SF.

The Introductions to these volumes paint a picture of the genre in the early 60s. They help the reader to understand where SF came from, and give an insight into the then perception of the genre by the literary world. I found little in them to quibble with.Volume 1 dwells on the criteria the joint editors (Conquest and Amis) employed: plausible, readable world building that did more than pander to literary fads, in stories that did not have wide circulation in the UK.Volume 2 notes the de-ghettoisation of SF. In 1962!Volume 3 dwells on the need for depth in SF and points out that simple errors of fact can impact on a work’s plausibility. It goes on to name check a pre-Michael Moorcock New Worlds (which was of course the premier monthly magazine for SF in the UK).
In place of a standard introduction, Volume 4 has a far-ranging conversation on Science Fiction between Brian Aldiss, Kingsley Amis, and CS Lewis, which was recorded not long before the latter passed away.Volume 5 takes a look at common criticisms levelled against SF and puts the case for the defence.
By the time of Volume 5, things were changing in SF, Michael Moorcock had begun his grand experiment with the periodical New Worlds. A New Wave in SF was flowing.
The stories are well worth a read!

Volume 1:

First

Published

Title

Author

1959

F & SF

The Homing Instinct of Joe Vargo

Stephen Barr

1959

Astounding

Special Flight

John Berryman

1955

Astounding

The Executioner

Algis Budrys

1954

Galaxy

Inanimate Objection

H Chandler Elliott

1941

Astounding

By His Bootstraps

Robert Heinlein

1952

Astounding

Unhuman Sacrifice

Katherine Maclean

1951

Galaxy

The Midas Plague

Frederick Pohl

1956

Playboy

Pilgrimage to Earth

Robert Sheckley

1949

Startling

Limiting Factor

Clifford Simak

1951

Worlds Beyond

Null-P

William Tenn

Volume 2:

1951

Galaxy

Beyond Bedlam

Wyman Guin

1952

Astounding

Bridge

James Blish

1956

New Worlds

There is a Tide

Brian W Aldiss

1953

Space SF

Second Variety

Philip K Dick

1958

Worlds of If

The Feeling of Power

Isaac Asimov

1955

Astounding

Sense from Thought Divide

Mark Clifton

1948

Astounding

Resurrection

AE van Vogt

1946

Astounding

Vintage Season

Henry Kuttner

Volume 3:

1945

Astounding

Killdozer!

Theodore Sturgeon

1961

New Worlds

The Voices of Time

JG Ballard

1957

Astounding

Call Me Joe

Poul Anderson

1963

We Would See a Sign

Mark Rose

1948

Astounding

Dreams are Sacred

Peter Philips

1956

Astounding

Exploration Team

Murray Leinster

1954

F & SF

Fondly Fahrenheit

Alfred Bester

1951

Avon

The Sentinel

Arthur C Clarke

Volume 4:

1951

Galaxy

The Marching Morons

CM Kornbluth

1962

Analog

Gadget vs Trend

Christopher Anvil

1962

F & SF

Such Stuff

John Brunner

1963

Galaxy

The Sellers of the Dream

John Jakes

1960

Fantastic Universe

The Large Ant

Howard Fast

1942

Astounding

Barrier

Anthony Boucher

1963

Galaxy

The Great Nebraska

Sea Allan Danzig

1954

Sunday Chronicle

Compassion Circuit

John Wyndham

1961

Galaxy

A Planet Named Shayol

Cordwainer Smith

1964

F & SF

Into the Shop

Ron Goulart

1962

F & SF

The Secret Songs

Fritz Leiber

1956

F & SF

Stranger Station

Damon Knight

1963

Galaxy

Hot Planet

Hal Clement

1952

Punch

The Choice

Wayland Young

Volume 5:

1953

Galaxy

Student Body

FL Wallace

1953

Astounding

Crucifixus Etiam

Walter M Miller

1952

Astounding

Noise Level

Raymond F Jones

1955

Astounding

Grandpa

James H Schmitz

1953

Astounding

Mother of Invention

Tom Godwin

1954

Astounding

The Far Look

Theodore L Thomas

1958

Astounding

Big Sword

Paul Ash

1953

Astounding

Commencement Night

Richard Ashby

Key & Stats

Publication

Stories

full name

Analog

1

Astounding

20

Astounding Science Fiction

Avon

1

The Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader

Fantastic Universe

1

F & SF

6

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Galaxy

9

New Worlds

2

New Worlds Science Fiction

Playboy

1

Punch

1

Space SF

1

Space Science Fiction

Startling

1

Startling Stories

Sunday Chronicle

1

Worlds Beyond

1

Worlds of If

1

If: Worlds of Science Fiction

Count of Stories by Year of First Publication, by Anthology

Year

Total

vol1

vol2

vol3

vol4

vol5

1941

1

1

1942

1

1

1945

1

1

1946

1

1

1948

2

1

1

1949

1

1

1951

5

2

1

1

1

1952

4

1

1

1

1

1953

5

1

4

1954

4

1

1

1

1

1955

3

1

1

1

1956

4

1

1

1

1

1957

1

1

1958

2

1

1

1959

2

2

1960

1

1

1961

2

1

1

1962

3

3

1963

4

1

3

1964

1

1

Robert Conquest, writer on Soviet Russia

born July 15 1917, died August 3 2015:

Started off like most champagne socialists, blind to the idiocies that ruined Russia. First you destroy the system then you destroy the people. Objectors to this lunacy became statistics. Stalin had a legion of useful idiots abroad, to help spread this lunacy to the West. Polemic helps to hide the truth from those who want to believe. Conquest was cured by postings in East Europe especially Bulgaria. Conquest worked hard to unpick the damage caused by Stalin’s many useful idiots; the mischief still goes on. His first landmark work was: The Great Terror: Stalin’s Purge of the Thirties (1968 — hardback: ISBN 0-19-505580-2, paperback ISBN 0-19-507132-8). The Guardian declined to obit him but back in 2003 they did a decent profile. See also New York Times Obit: Robert Conquest, Historian Who Documented Soviet Horrors, Dies at 98.